The other night I had what is known as a “visitation dream.” I don’t dream about the dead often, but when I do, I generally am interacting with them and talking with them.

Do you believe that the dead can meet us in spirit form while we’re in the dream state? Some people would say that our guard is down while we’re dreaming. It’s the time when we put our rational mind to rest and allow all possibilities to exist. Perhaps we are surrounded by clues and messages from the spirit world during the day, but we dismiss them as mere coincidences or don’t even see them due to our busy lives.

Before this dream, I really hadn’t heard of visitation dreams. But I decided to Google “visits from the dead in dreams” to see what’s out there. My dream had several characteristics of a visitation dream:

* It was vivid. I remember a few dreams from time to time (not as many as I used to), but this one was so vivid that it woke me up. The colors, the setting, and the people were very clear, as were my thoughts.

* The dead person appeared healthy and strong. In this case, I dreamed about Dad, and he looked very much as I remembered him.

* The dead will communicate clearly to you. In some visitation dreams, the messages are nonverbal. But in my case, Dad had a clear message for me that he spoke out loud.

I’ve had other dreams of the dead from time to time, mostly of grandparents. No surprise, I dreamed most about these people as I was working on my memoir. While I’m glad my memoir is finished and published (very glad!), one sad thing about it being done is that I’m not dreaming about family members as much as I used to.

Generally when I dream about the dead, the dreams follow the same pattern no matter who the dead person is. In my dream, I see the dead person, and they are going about normal life, talking to people, milling about, etc. They do not know they are dead, nor do other people around them. I’m the only one who knows they are dead and I get a little worried. I usually think, “Don’t they know they are dead? What are they doing here? They’re not supposed to be here. Should I be the one to tell them they are dead?” It’s like I have this secret and I don’t know whether to reveal it or not. Usually I do not reveal it. I will even go up to the dead person and talk to them, ask them how they are to try to get a clue whether or not they know they are dead. It’s like I’m trying to get them to draw out their secret.

Though I’ve dreamed of family members, I can’t remember such a strong visitation dream as I had the other night. However, the dream I write about toward the end of my book would qualify as a visitation dream; it had the same characteristics as above.

If you’ve read my book, you know of my interest in seeking out otherworldly information and experiences when I was young! When I have an unusual experience, you can imagine that I get a little excited 🙂

Tell me about your dreams. Do you dream about your dead loved ones? How would you characterize those dreams? Have you ever had a visitation dream and if so, what was the message imparted?